Violet sighed, leaning back against the draw from which the tea towels had been taken. She could see that there was no fair way for her to refuse. It was what Lillian wanted and what Alexanderneeded. It just went against the grain that Lillian was striking out in a direction so anathema to everything Violet believed.
“Very well,” she said. “Not that it was ever up to me. You are both adults.”
“Violet, do not underestimate the influence you have. I certainly would not have wished to undertake this role without your blessing. Your approval is important to me.”
Violet smiled and Lillian embraced her, hugging her fiercely.
“And now that I have had my warm drink, I will go back upstairs. And in the morning will wonder if I have dreamed all of this.” She laughed, kissing Violet on the cheek,
She then drew an elegant curtsy to Alexander who returned her genuflection with a bow. Lillian practically danced from the room. Violet looked at Alexander and he stared back, unabashed.
“This cannot continue,” Violet said, not unkindly.
“It cannot. I shiver to think how close we came to disaster tonight. Not for myself. For you.”
Violet wanted to go to him. Wanted to rush across the room into his arms.
What is wrong with me? A handsome man with a good pair of shoulders and pretty eyes and I go to pieces. I become a wanton woman!
“I will go. I have my escape route,” Alexander added.
“You will not,” Violet replied. “I do not wish you to break your neck scaling that wall in the dark. I will let you out of the side gate. The key is kept in here.”
“You let me scale the wall to come in,” Alexander pointed out.
“And now I have come to my senses,” Violet replied. “Do not question me, Your Grace.”
She spoke with a wry smile playing at the corner of her mouth and Alexander grinned boyishly.
Oh, be still my heart when he smiles at me like that. It sets my pulse to racing.
“Yes, My Lady,” Alexander replied.
He placed such tenderness on the last two words that Violet could feel herself melting, wanting to be in his arms and let the entire world see.
“We have known each other a matter of hours altogether,” she said. “In terms of time spent in each other’s company. Wemust remember that. There are rules to courtship that we must observe.”
“So, we are courting, are we?” Alexander asked with a mischievous smile.
Violet flushed, hearing the words she had just spoken. “I did not mean to be…forward,” she said.
Alexander crossed the room to her, making her heart leap. Once again he took her hands in his and kissed her fingertips. Then he kissed her forehead.
“I should consider it an honor to court you, Lady Violet. And a badge of the greatest honor for this society of yours to see you on my arm.”
“Well, I should like to give you some more lessons in private first. But, then we must be seen publicly to test what you have learned. The theater for example, restaurants, museums.”
“And in the meantime I shall set Mr. Octavius Gellert the task of tracing your father,” Alexander said.
He must have seen something in Violet’s face because he frowned. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Mr. Gellert’s firm also serves my family. Serves my Uncle, I should say. He has refused to undertake that task. I have already asked.”
Alexander’s face hardened. “I may not know all of the rules that govern this strange society of yours, lass. But, I understand the power I can wield should I choose. Mr. Gellert may think himself able to refuse Lady Violet Ravendel but, trust me, he will not refuse me. I’ll have the shirt from his back if he does.”
There was a fierceness to him that Violet found at once comforting and frightening. The intensity of his passion threatened to break through her long-held inhibitions and carry her away to a wild place from which she might not return. Those inhibitions and the rules they represented were all she had. All she’d had for a very long time.
“Thank you. I wish you better luck than I had.”
